Why this ride
From Potsdam it runs 79 km to Potsdam; allow about 1 h 49 of riding. On the way it passes Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf, Museumsinsel and back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin and Museumsinsel
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 79 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 49
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin → Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf
This part of the ride is 23 km of Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin → Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 23 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
Potsdam lies just outside Berlin, in a landscape of lakes, rivers and woods along the Havel, and for over two centuries it was the summer residence of the Prussian kings and German emperors. Frederick the Great built the palace of Sanssouci here in the 1740s, a single-storey Rococo palace above terraced vineyards, where he wanted to live without worries, as its name suggests. His successors added more palaces, gardens and follies, and today the ensemble, together with sites in Berlin, forms one of Germany's largest UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Read the complete Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin is where the day begins. Next is Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf.
2. Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf
Bright colours were a weapon for Bruno Taut. The architect believed that good housing could change people's lives, and in the 1920s he designed several large housing estates in Berlin for working and middle class families, with light, airy flats, gardens and shared green spaces. The Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf, better known as Onkel Toms Hütte, Uncle Tom's Cabin, after a nearby inn and the underground station, was built between 1926 and 1931 on the edge of the Grunewald forest, and Taut, working with other architects, painted the houses in strong reds, greens, blues and yellows, so that the estate glows among the pine trees. It is one of the great monuments of modern housing in Germany.
Read the complete Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Museumsinsel.
3. Museumsinsel
The northern tip of an island in the Spree in the middle of Berlin holds five museums that between them cover about six thousand years of human history. The Museumsinsel, or Museum Island, grew out of a decision in the nineteenth century by the kings of Prussia to build a cultural centre in the heart of the capital, and the buildings, in neoclassical and neo-baroque style, were added one by one until the 1930s. UNESCO listed the ensemble in 1999. Among the treasures are the Pergamon Altar, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, and the bust of Queen Nefertiti, which sits in the Neues Museum.
Read the complete Museumsinsel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 38 km into the recorded legs you reach Museumsinsel. Next is back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf.
4. back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf, late in the day. Next is Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin.
5. Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin to Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin → Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf to Museumsinsel
Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf → Museumsinsel is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Museumsinsel to back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf
Museumsinsel → back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf to Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
back through Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf → Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.